Process of treating grease-containing material.



- Nn. 692,922. Patented Feb. Il, |902.

J. J. SELDNER.

PROCESS 0F TREATING GREASE CNTAINING MATERIAL.

(Application filed Mar. 27, 1901,)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

.IONAS J. SELDNER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSALCENTRIFUGAL DRYER COMPANY, OF BALTIMORE7 MARYLAND, A COR- PORATION OFMARYLAND.

PROCESS OF TREATING GREASE-CONTAINING MATERIAL.

sPncrroa'rloiv foi-ming part of Letters Patent No. 692,922, datedFebruary i1, 1902-.

Application iiled March 27, 1901. Serial No. 53,040. (No specimens.)

T all wt'om it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONAS J. SELDNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of TreatingGrease- Containing Material, &c., of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to an imxo proved process or method oftreating vegetable or animal material containing fat, oil, or otherextractive matter, whereby the said extract-ive matter can be thoroughlyremoved Without wasting or reducing the otherliquid elements of thematerial treated.

I-Ieretofore in treating offal, garbage, or other material for thepurpose of extracting valuable matter therefrom it has been customary tointroduce steam into the mass of zo material or to introduce water andheat the mixture by the use of steam applied to the rendering vessel orreceptacle. While such a method will separate the grease or other matterto be extracted, it is evident that the z 5 residue remaining in thetank will have the nature and strength of its liquid elements weakenedby the steam or water introduced to aid in freeing the extractivematter. This is objectionable, because it is customary to 3o employ saidresidue as a fertilizer, and it is of course important that the elementsthereof useful for such purpose should be of maximum strength-that is,with all of the processes heretofore in use for treating such ma- 3 5terial, so far as I am aware, the original liquid contents of thematerial have been weakened or reduced in strength by the action of thedigesters or rendering apparatus. To avoid this and provide a process ormethod by means 4o of which the matter to be extracted can beeifectually removed from the material treated and a fertilizercontaining the liquid elements of the original material undiluted by theaddition of water or steam obtained is the object of my presentinvention.

The invention will be more particularly described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a View, partly in section,of an 5o apparatus for carrying out my invention, and

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate slightly-modified forms of digesters. I

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the body of the digesting orrendering tank, which may be of any suitable size. This tank or vesselis surrounded, except at the top, by a steam-jacket 2 and is interiorlydivided into two compartments or chambers by a transverse horizontalpartition 3. This partition is preferably formed with a series of minute6o perforations, such as will permit the passage of liquid from the mainupper chamber to the lower chamber 4, such perforations or openingsbeing of such reduced size that particles of solid material will beprevented from passing into the lower liquid-chamber. Said division 3 isalso provided with a central opening or aperture, into which is tted thelower end of a perforated tube 5, which extends upwardly within therendering-tank. Above 7o the upper end of this tank 5 is arranged aninverted conical-shaped cover or shield` 6 for a purpose to behereinafter described.

In the top of the tank or vessel l is formed a suitable inlet-openingadapted to be closed bya door or cover 7, and a door 8 is formed in saidtank, near the lower end thereof, through which the residue remainingafter the grease or other matter has been extracted from the materialtreated may be withdrawn. 8o Steam may be supplied to the jacket 2through a valved pipe 8, a steam gage 9 being provided for indicatingthe amount of pressure in said jacket at any time. A return steampipe 10communicates with the lower portion 85 of the steam-jacket for returningthe steam to the boiler, where it is generated.

Below the rendering-tank is arranged a smaller tank or receptacle 11,communicating through a valved pipe 12 with the liquid- 9o chamber 4 ofthe rendering vessel and through a pipe 13 with a pump 14. A pipe orduct 15 extends from the pump through an aperture or opening in the topof the rendering-tank and connects with one end of a distributing- 9` 5duct 16, arranged within the upper portion of the tank and having itsdelivery-opening directly above the apex of the conical-shaped shield orcover for the centrally-arran ged perforated pipe 5. A valve 17 isplaced in the loo pipe 15 to regulate the passage of liquid from thepump to the interior of the tank 1, and a valved branch pipe 18 connectssaid pipe 15 with a reservoir or elevated tank 19. Said reservoir has avalved outlet-pipe 20, which also extends through the top of therenderingtank and is connected to the discharge-pipe 1G therein. Thetank is also provided with a Vapor-'escape tube or pipe 21, and theliquid chamber or compartment et of the digester and the tank 11 arerespectively provided with gages 22 23 for indicating the heights ofliquid therein. Said liquid-chamber 4 is also provided with anysuitablenumber of cocks or faucets 21 for drawing od the grease or oilfrom the liquid received in said chamber.

The manner of using the apparatus above described in carrying out myimproved process is as follows: The material from which grease is to beextracted or removed and which may afterward 'in many instances be usedas a fertilizer is introduced through the feed aperture or opening atthe top of the tank, after which the door or cover 7 is applied andtightly secured in position. Steam is then admitted to the jacket 2, andas the material deposited within the tank upon the perforated fioor orpartition 3 becomes heated the liquid elements thereof will be separatedfrom the solid matter and pass through the perforations in the said dooror through the perforations in the central tube 5 into the liquidchamber or compartment 4f. The grease being of lighter specific gravitywill floator rise to the top of the liquid in the chamber 4 and may bedrawn off through the cocks 24, the gage 22 serving to indicate theexact amount of liquid and the relative proportion of grease at anytime. When practically all of the grease collected in said chamber 4 hasbeen withdrawn, the valve inlthe pipe 12 can be opened and the remainingliquid allowed to pass into the tank 1l. By means of the pump 14 saidVliquid will be carried through the pipes 15 and 16 and discharged intothe tank, being by means of the conical cap 6 caused to fall over arelatively large portion of the material being treated. This liquid,which, it will be noticed, is obtained entirely from the material beingdigested and is undiluted or weakened by the addition of any water orsteam, is thus caused to repeatedly percolate through the mass ofmaterial in the digester, and thereby all of the grease containedtherein is extracted. The temperature or pressure of steam required toseparate the liquid elements from the solid portion of the materialtreated will vary according to the nature of such material. l have foundthat in treating some materials it is necessary to introduce steam at apressure of as high as ninety pounds to the steam-jacketof the renderingvessel, while with other material and when the rendering is effected ina vacuum, as hereinafter described, a steam-pressure of only four orfive pounds will be sufficient. If for any reason it is not desired tointroduce the liquid passing through the pipe 15 directly into thedigesting-tank, the valve 17 may be closed and such liquid delivered tothe elevated reservoir 19, through which it can be withdrawn as desiredthrough the pipe 20. After the grease has been extracted in the mannerdescribed the residue can be withdrawn through the door 8 and treated ina suitable drying apparatus. It will be seen that the resulting productwill contain all of the elements of the original material, therebyproducing a higher grade or better quality of fertilizer than isobtainable when the methods commonly in use are followed.

The advantages of the method hereinbefore described will be readilyappreciated. It frequently happens that the liquid elements of materialto be treated in such an apparatus contain a very high percentage ofvaluable fertilizing material, and if, as has been the ordinarypractice, water or steam is admitted to the material in the tank thestrength of such liquid element is greatly reduced, if it is notentirely wasted. By my method also a great saving of time is effected.1f the original liquid element of the material is increased by theaddition of water or steam, such additional amount of moisture has ofcourse to be evaporated before the product will be brought to the propercondition for use as a fertilizer.

In some cases it is desirable to subject the material to the action ofan acid, and by following my invention the same quantity of acid can berepeatedly circulated through the material without having its strengthreduced, as it would be if water or steam were admitted to the digestingvessel.

If desired, the lower compartment or chamber et of the digesting-tankmay be connected with an airexhausting pump and a partial vacuum createdtherein. This will act to draw intosaid compartment the matter extractedby heat from the material in the other chamber of the tank.

Instead of arranging a cylindrical perforated tube 5 centrally withinthe upper chamber of the rendering-tank, as shown in Fig. l and abovedescribed, said upper chamber may be divided by perforated partitions ofthe forms shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Such constructions as are illustratedin the last said figures cause the material to be treated to be dividedinto a Vseries of relatively smaller masses from which the extractivematter can be more readily withdrawn and conducted to the chamber a.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The herein-described method of treating animal or vegetable materialto extract matter therefrom, consisting in heating the material in aclosed vessel, collecting the liquid expelled from the material by suchheating,

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withdrawing the desired matter from said liq-A uid, and returning theremainder of the liquid tothe material within the heating vessel.

2. The herein-described method of treating animal or vegetable materialto extract matter therefrom, consisting in heating the material in aclosed vessel, collecting'the liquid expelled from the material by suchheating, withdrawing the desired matter from said liquid, and repeatedlyreturning the remainder of theliquid to the material within the heatingVessel. i

3. The herein-described method of treating animal or vegetable material,consisting in heating the material in a closed Vessel to expel theliquid contents thereof, and returning said liquid and passing-itthrough said material repeatedly, for the purpose set forth.

4. The herein-described method of treating oil-containing material,consisting in heating the material to separate the oil and other liquidelements therefrom, separating and Withdrawing the oil from the otherliquid and returning the remainder of the liquid to the heating vessel.Y

5. The methodof treating animal or Vegetable material to extract oilorvgrease therefrom which consists in heating said material to expelliquid therefrom, separating out from said liquid the oil and greasetherein, and returning thevremaining liquid to the material undertreatment to serve as a vehicle for conveying further oil and greasefrom said material.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence'of two witnesses.

JONAS J. SELDNER. Witnesses:

JOHN W. HEwEs, MARK A. ELLIOTT.

